Sanur: A quieter alternative to Kuta

Sanur is located on the coast 18km NE of Kuta. You can get to Sanur from Kuta quickly via the Bypass. Sanur used to be a small fisihing village and still has elements of that. Riding around on my motorbike I see some wonderful chunk of undeveloped land covered in forest. This land is beyond my reach though, with owners probably waiting for the next Hyatt or Conrad to come along and make them instantly rich.

Located on Jl. Danau Poso is a temple called Pura Blanjong. This contains an ancient stome pillar, the Prasati Blanjong, dating back to 913AD. The writings on the pillar talk about a Javanese king who came and started the Mahayana Buddhist government here. Sanur has a high precedence of brahmana caste (high caste Balinese) and is also famed to be a center of black magic.
Sanur’s main street, Jl. Danau Tamblingan, is lined with hotels, shops and restaurants. It doesn’t have the party scene of Kuta / Seminyak which might make it better for families with young kids. The beach is Sanur is protected by a reef, making swimming safe. One of my favourite places in the Cat & Fiddle pub, home of good beer, bangers & mash and folk music on certain nights.
Jl. Danau Tamblingan features a Ryoshi, 2 clinics (Legian Clinic 2, Sanur Clinic), a post office, art market. There are plenty of watersports on offer and a public boat to Nusa Lembongan located at the end of Jl. Hang Tuah. Sanur beach never seems busy to me, so if you are looking for a place under the palm trees to relax, that is close to creature comforts, this might it